Tag Archives: dominoes

Most of the furniture in Blacktip Island’s Heritage House was destroyed during Thursday’s drunken melee at a charity domino tournament to benefit the island’s school. (photo courtesy of Carnivalsman)

A brawl at a Blacktip Island charity domino tournament Thursday evening sent five people to the medical clinic and caused extensive damage to the island’s Heritage House, authorities said.

“James Conlee and Mr. Snapper, the schoolmaster, were trash talking before their match, and things got out of hand,” said tournament organizer Kay Valve. “One moment it was insults as usual, the next, punches were flying, tables were crashing and jerked chicken from the food stand was sailing everywhere.

“These matches are powder kegs,” Valve said. “Alcohol was factor, but we can’t ban consumption. That’s an integral part of the sport. We do tell folks to drink in moderation, but that means different things to different people. This is why we can’t have nice tournaments.”

Accounts varied about what provoked the melee.

“That damned Snapper started it,” James Conlee said. “He’s been palming tiles all tourney, you know. Slipping them out when he thinks no one’s looking. Acts all ‘it’s for the kids,’ but he’s a snake.”

Snapper disputed Conlee’s account.

“I was wearing a tank top and shorts. Where would I hide tiles?” he said. “It was James’ fault. He said my scooter was an eyesore, so I said, ‘well, so’s your wife.’ Then out of nowhere he just hit me for no reason. He’s crazy.

“This is the guy who put bird feed in my bug zapper two days ago, just to get inside my head,” Snapper said. “We were raising funds for the school. Now because of him, the kids have to pay for damages instead.”

Island authorities say the brawl escalated quickly.

“Lee Helm got too close, took an elbow to the teeth, then fell across Clete Horn and Antonio Fletcher’s game,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “Clete and ‘Tonio started punching anything that moved, and next thing you know, Christina Mojarra was swinging a chair like she was batting cleanup. She laid out a half-dozen people before we could take her down.

Five players were treated for minor injuries. Lee Helm was flown to Bottoms Memorial Medical Center on Tiperon to have domino tiles removed from his nasal cavities and other orifices.

“I don’t know how Lee got hurt to badly. He wasn’t even in the tournament,” Valve said. “Wrong place, wrong time, I suppose. Of course, he’s never been well-liked on the island, so people may have used the opportunity to settle old grudges.

The Caribbean’s best team domino players will converge on Blacktip Island this weekend for the inaugural tag-team dominoes championship. (photo courtesy of Joy Spotts)

Dominoes competitors from across the Caribbean will descend on Blacktip Island this weekend for the inaugural Blacktip Association of Interlocking Tiles tag-team dominoes tournament at the island’s Heritage House.

“It’s the dominoes of the future,” said association president Inky Pipps. “It combines the strategy of dominoes, with the physicality of pro wrestling. It’ll feature two-person teams and a double-elimination format.

“We play by the Marquise of Tiperon rules, so everyone’s required to drink between rounds,” Pipps said. “And during. It takes the island’s two most popular activities to the next level. And referees will make sure everyone is drinking the same amount, to keep things fair.”

Final scores will be tallied at the end of each round, which end after the last contestant passes out.

Local dominoes fans say the sport adds an element of drama to the game.

“It’s not just people sitting around a table, drinking beer and slapping down tiles,” dominoes aficionado Ginger Bass said. “The head games get intense, with trash talking and mean-mugging before each match. And there’s another level of tactics involved once play starts.

“If a player’s outmatched, she can tap out and let her teammate take over,” Bass said. “The adrenalin kicks in when you get both team members playing the same table at the same time. And when you get six, eight people slamming down tiles and whacking each other with folding chairs, there’s nothing else like it!”

Tournament organizers stressed any in-game altercations are not staged.

“Every players signs off that any violence they’re involved in will be spontaneous,” association vice president Joy Spotts said. “And Rafe Marquette’ll have both eyes peeled for any signs of illegal gambling.

“We’ll also taking every step to keep the players from cheating,” Spotts said. “There’ll be proctors on the lookout for anyone using performance-enhancing substances. We have zero tolerance for light beer. Period.”

“Winners receive a small cash prize, as well as the coveted Golden Tile award,” Spotts said. “We assume it’ll be coveted, anyway. It’s the first one, but focus groups at the Ballyhoo happy hour were all positive.

“The Heritage House only holds a dozen or so spectators, so we’ll be live streaming the contests to all the island bars,” Spotts added. “If things go as expected, we plan to add tag team dominoes as an Olympic sport when the Tiperons host the Olympics.”

Blacktip Island’s domino aficionados have created a nonpartisan policy institute to address important issues impacting the region.

A group of Blacktip Island’s domino enthusiasts have filed articles of incorporation to become the Tiperon Islands’ first nonprofit, nongovernmental policy institute.

The Council for Regional Atmospheric Policy draws on a cross section of Blacktip Island society and will focus on economics, energy, social policy and fashion.

“Folks think we just sit around drinking beer and playing dominoes, you know” Council co-founder Antonio Fletcher said. “But we talk about the news of the day, too. We figure we come up with answers for most every crisis in the Caribbean since 2004. Maybe even 2003.

The Council is financed by Sandy Bottoms Liquor Store and proceeds from local domino tournaments. Members meet daily in a storage unit behind the liquor store.

Island leaders praised the group’s effectiveness.

“They’ve addressed Blacktip’s sustainability in terms of water conservation, green electricity production and repurposing items from the dump,” island mayor Jack Cobia said. “They also had the idea to put the big recycling barrel next to their domino table for all the bottle and cans.

“Now, we haven’t implemented any of their plans, except the recycling bin, but the results have been impressive,” Cobia said.

The Council’s critics were less enthusiastic.

“A bunch of drunks talking out their backsides isn’t a think tank,” Club Scuba Doo owner Nelson Pilchard said. “By that logic, the Last Ballyhoo bar’s a policy institute, too. And nonprofit? They make out like bandits with free beer.”

Council members were quick to defend the organization.

“I guarantee we don’t turn a profit,” Council member Dermott Bottoms said. “I mean, just look at us.”

“Sandy’s folks do provide the beer,” Fletcher said. “They deliver the cans right out to us, but that’s mostly so we don’t wander in and scare off customers. Couple of members aren’t allowed within 100 yards of the store, too.”

Fletcher said the Council is currently focused on immigration reform and its effects on regional culture, a study he says is facilitated by the dominoes themselves.

“You slap dominoes down long enough, ideas jump up at you,” Fletcher said. “We’ve had some of our best brainstorms at the end of playing all day and half the night. Right before you pass out, things fall into place like, well, like dominoes.”